"Cecala was disclosing to me a phase of the under-world life of crime and horror of which I knew nothing at the time.
"'And what do you do to earn this money? Do you take the objects that you find in the burned houses?' I inquired.
"'No,' sneered Cecala with contempt. 'I set fire to the houses to defraud the insurance companies!'
"He said this with the pride of a professional expert.
"'And how do you do it?' I inquired, curious to learn his ways.
"'Well, you own a store and have insured it against fire. You have paid up the insurance and do not wish to pay any more, but you want to realize on the money already paid in. You will send for me to set a fire. In my manner I will develop a fire in an instant. When the insurance company pays you the money you pay me a percentage.'
"'Then perhaps you were the one who set the big fire in Mulberry Street where so many poor people were burned?'
"'No!' came the quick response. 'I do not set fire to make accidents happen. That fire was engineered by a Neapolitan band that were in accord with the proprietor of the dry goods store underneath. They did not work it right because they started the fire from the side of the store and afterwards put explosives on the stairs so that no trace would be left. If I had had that job there would have been no trace to tell the story, and the damage would have been done from the store door. There would not have been so many accidents and the families would have had time to run into the yard.'
"'How can you guarantee all this? And what explosive matter do you use to start a fire?' I inquired.
"'Glycerine,' mumbled the bandit. 'I mix it with other matters. It does not smell and leaves no trace of the fire.'